A prof at the Desautels Faculty, McGill University & an Associate Fellow at Green Templeton College, Oxford University. For the last 10 years I have worked closely with Henry Mintzberg running leadership programs. Before that I was on the faculty from 1995-2000 at Oxford University. +1,500,000 views of my Globe, Forbes and Youtube blog and interviews have been received thus far. I have also taught exec ed at LBS, INSEAD, Cornell, Duke, Darden and Cambridge. On the recent list of Economist Top 30 MBAs, noted that I had taught at 6 of the top 20. Started work in the early 80s and spent 11 years with IBM and Hitachi in sales and management. So at the best of times someone who combines real world experience with academic thinking. 28 refereed journal articles, 10 books, over 1,450 Google Scholar cites, etc.. The book I am currently writing is: Postmodern Management: Working With Under 35 year Olds The Way They Want To be Worked With. I am writing it with a former Accenture consultant who now works at the National Bank. Should be done this year! Follow me on Twitter:profkjmoore, subscribe to me on Facebook, to Circle me on Google+

The Parachute Packer - the Best Story I Have Ever Heard

Lt. General Stuart Beare spoke to our Leadership Class this winter. He told the best story I have ever heard. I want to share that story with you.

Back in the 1960s there was an officer, Captain Charlie Plumb, who flew jet fighters off the aircraft carrier the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. On what turned out to be his last sortie he was shot down and ended up spending six years as a POW with the Vietcong. Some years later he was eating at a restaurant in Kansas City. Charlie tells how, “A man about two tables away kept looking at me. I didn’t recognize him. A few minutes into our meal he stood up and walked over to my table, looked down at me, pointed his finger in my face and said, “You’re Captain Plumb.”

I looked up and I said, “Yes sir, I’m Captain Plumb.”

He said, “You flew jet fighters in Vietnam. You were on the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down. You parachuted into enemy hands and spent six years as a prisoner of war.” I said, “How in the world did you know all that?”

He replied, “Because, I packed your parachute.”

Charlie relates how he was speechless. “I staggered to my feet and held out a very grateful hand of thanks. This guy came up with just the proper words. He grabbed my hand, he pumped my arm and said, “I guess it worked.” “Yes sir, indeed it did”, I said, “and I must tell you I’ve said a lot of prayers of thanks for your nimble fingers, but I never thought I’d have the opportunity to express my gratitude in person.”

Parachute packers were the people who toiled down in the bowels of the aircraft carrier, rarely seeing the light of day during working hours, it was hot, humid, hard work.

After hearing this story General Beare asked a simple question, who is your parachute packer? He then moved onto another part of his talk on leadership.

As soon as class ended I headed up two floors to talk to one my parachute packers. Every year I take 35 McGill students on what we call the Hot Cities of the World Tour, the slogan is, Taking the Future to the Future. That is young people to where we think the world economy is going. We have gone to Israel, Abu Dhabi/Dubai, India, and this year, South Africa. It is great fun to share 30 meals and meet with CEOs of big and small companies. What struck me was that the students and I get a lot of positive attention for the trip and the fund raising we do for a deserving NGO in the country we visit but that the accounting manager at our Faculty gets neglected, but without her, we could not possibly go on the trip. So I headed up stairs to thank Christiane. About time too!

The next class I suggested to the students that they would be telling the story of the packer to their people in 30 years. I really believe they will, because we all have our parachute packers. Now, for the best story I have ever read, well, that is story for another time.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.